65 fishermen arrested by Sri Lankan Navy

As many as 65 fishermen from India were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy on Tuesday night on charges of fishing in Sri Lankan waters.

A total of 34 fishermen in five boats were caught fishing north of Point Pedro, a town located in Jaffna, and another 31 fishermen, in four boats, were apprehended north-east of Mullaitivu.

On Wednesday, the two groups of fishermen were taken to Point Pedro and Trincomalee for legal action, Sri Lankan Navy spokesman Commander Kosala Warnakulasuriya told The Hindu.

Ever since the 45-day ban on fishing imposed in Tamil Nadu ended on June 1, Indian fishermen being apprehended by the Sri Lankan Navy for crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) has resurfaced and become a recurring issue.

Currently, a total of 21 fishermen from Tamil Nadu, who were arrested on June 6, are in custody here. Their case is scheduled to be heard again on August 2.

Even as concern among the fishing community in Sri Lanka, particularly the Tamil-speaking north, has been growing, representatives of fishermen’s federations met Sri Lanka’s Economic Development Minister Basil Rakapaksa in New Delhi on July 5.

The fishermen were invited to Sri Lanka for talks with their counterparts and were scheduled to arrive during the first week of August, but sources here believe that their visit may be postponed as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa is yet to give her approval.

Meanwhile, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa said the recent incidents pointed to an “organised act” by certain interested parties who were fishing in the troubled waters. Mr. Rajapaksa, who addressed editors of media organisations here at a breakfast meeting on Tuesday, said: “Our people in [the] North could not go fishing for a long time due to conflict. Now when they try to resume their livelihood, they have to face this new problem.” Sri Lanka, he said, always adhered to the policy of humane treatment of Indian fishermen who were detained by the Sri Lanka Navy for crossing the IMBL.

Staff Reporter adds from Karaikal

The Puducherry fisheries department here is set to impose penalty on the four fishing boats that were impounded along with its crew off Trincomalee. Speaking to The Hindu, Assistant Director Fisheries N. Elayaperumal said the department would impose a fine of Rs.5,000 on the offenders. The Puducherry government had recently issued rules governing penalties for breaching the IMBL, where repeated offences would lead to impounding the boat.

“There will be an agitation, but we shall go by rules to impose the fine of Rs.5,000 since all the four boats are first-time offenders,” Mr.Elayaperumal said. The Karaikal crew of 31 included four fishermen from Nagapattinam.

I have a true liking for Srilanka. Especially on its natural beauty seen in Mt. Lavinya, Nuwara Eliya, Hambantotta, Pulanaruva and of course the most revered city of the Tooth, Kandy. But, of late, Srilanka is acting unilaterally which is seriously detrimental to peace in South Asia. The seas and oceans are the wealth of the world for fishermen to eke out a living. Srilanka, in its paranoia of the Tigers roared non-stop for three decades is still not out of its hallucination and nightmare. The TN fishermen are not any Tigers. They have the fishing right that Srilanka cannot deny around the Katchatheevu and atolls around it. For all the actions of Srilanka on the TN fishermen, it seems, some vested foreign powers are behind to instigate the island government to foment trouble in a big way later. The harassment meted out to the TN fishermen must be just a prelude in pretext. If so, Srilanka should remember that it is playing with fire. The Tiger or Elephant is real but not any 'Dragon'.

from:
C. Sachidananda Narayanan

Posted on: Jul 31, 2013 at 21:29 IST

There have been many such incidents on this issue which indicate there is need for better technology to avoid such incidents. A better cooperation and regular dialogue shall help to improve the relations between the two counties. I think the suggestion from Mr Murali Jayaraman is very practical and both countries take a lead and implement this. I think a joint boarder monitoring centre between India and Sri Lanka shall also improve the security and avoid incident like these.

from:
R Kalanithy

Posted on: Jul 31, 2013 at 19:03 IST

Being a marine engineer my self , international laws are totally different and even a mighty tanker passing a country's water should hoist their flag and shall follow their local laws in addition to international laws I personally feel fishing vessels shall be provided with GPS and AIS system in order to avoid crossing boundaries and the sea boundary being so vast it is hardly possible for Indian navy to patrol as Indian naval ships are more influenced in gulf of Aden and Somali areas

from:
Murali Jayaraman

Posted on: Jul 31, 2013 at 14:32 IST

This is an insult to India. The government must respond by conducting a "routine naval exercise" of our choicest warships in Lankan waters. Let's see if Lanka has the GUTS to bring our ships into custody.

from:
Bala

Posted on: Jul 31, 2013 at 11:57 IST

India has to take care of every citizen even if they are poor fishermen.
It was the sole duty of Indian government to warn those fishermen before they went outside the borderline of the country.

from:
Anant Singh

Posted on: Jul 31, 2013 at 11:46 IST

Truly ridiculous. Sri Lanka lives on Indian fund but treating poor Indian fishermen as enimes. This should be questioned.

from:
Abhijith sreenivas

Posted on: Jul 31, 2013 at 10:41 IST

I accept the Srilankan navy taking actions on Indian Fishermen who intrude in their borders. If srilankan navay is having a close watch at its border why the Indian Navy not being proactive in monitoring the Indian Borders and if they find our fishermen crossing the borders then they can warn them to go back to our borders. by doing so we could avoid unnecesary conflict of interests.